Monkeys, power cuts and congestion come in the way of "smart India"

April 11, 2015 02:07 PM

As India launches an $18 billion plan to spread the information revolution to its second- and third-tier cities and towns, the problems it faces are a holdover from the past - electricity shortages, badly planned, jam-packed cities, and monkeys.

The clash between the old world and the new is sharply in focus in the crowded 3000-year-old holy city of Varanasi, where many devout Hindus come to die in the belief that doing so will give them salvation. Varanasi is also home to hundreds of macaque monkeys that live in its temples and are fed and venerated by devotees.